


Faith vs Reason

by whiteroseofthemoon



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:07:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29966832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiteroseofthemoon/pseuds/whiteroseofthemoon
Summary: A collection of one-shots based on lives of our power-couple Bones and Booth. No particular order, mostly true to the canon, but some AUs as well.
Relationships: Camille Saroyan/Arastoo Vaziri, Jack Hodgins/Angela Montenegro, Seeley Booth/Temperance Brennan
Kudos: 5





	1. Running

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 8x02 The Partners in the Divorce.

It was the biggest fight Brennan and Booth had ever since they became a couple. Sure, they always bickered, had misunderstandings and small fights, but what happened today was a volcano. Three months apart, Pelant hovering over their heads, all their insecurities, Booth’s fear that Brennan would never come back, all that mashed into one big mess. They knew that their love was strong enough to survive this and as Booth said, they will be OK, they made those first steps and Brennan felt a wave a relief, for the first time since she came back, she felt truly home. Christine was sound asleep and they were now in the bed, breathing heavily, they made up, they really did, with passion and forgiveness and now when Brennan was looking at the handsome face of her lover, she really understood how it was for him, she knew she hurt him, again. She wondered how long will it take before Booth will not be able to forgive her, true, she never wanted to cause him pain, but she did anyway. She touched his face gently and he looked at her with his big brown eyes, full of warmth and awe, Brennan knew he loved her, but sometimes she was humbled by the pure affection he radiated, she couldn’t prove it, but she felt it anyway. 

‘I am so sorry, Booth,’ she whispered. 

‘Yeah, I am sorry, too.’

‘No, you don’t understand…I am sorry for everything, for every time I hurt you. I wish I could…I wish I could express what you mean to me the same way you do, every day, but I just don’t know how.’

‘Hey,’ he kissed her gently. ‘I know you love me, that’s all that matters.’

‘No, but, Booth, I should have known better than anyone, I was abandoned once and even though my parents did it for a good reason, just like I did, it was still wrong.’

‘Yeah, but like you said, it wasn’t easy for you too, I shouldn’t have emphasized on the things you did while you were away, you did what you have to do to survive.’

‘But it’s not the first time I ran away from you, isn’t it? That’s why you were even more upset.’

She stared at him and he looked at her with a surprise. They didn’t usually talk about what happened between them before they got together, there were a lot of mistakes made on both sides. Booth winced a little and took Brennan’s hand pressing it to his chest. She waited patiently for him to respond.

‘You always came back,’ he said quietly.

‘How can you be so kind to me?’

‘Because I love you and I know you. Hey,’ he kissed her knuckles. ‘We are going to be fine.’

‘I don’t want us to be fine,’ said Brennan trying to make him understand. ‘I want us to be happy again, truly happy and I want to stop running every time it gets difficult. Pelant is still out there or something else might happen, but next time I want you to run with me if it’s going to be necessary and I will run with you. Even though, it’s irrational and dangerous and…’

Before she could finish her thought, Booth was on top her kissing her senseless, she wanted to keep talking, but her body was now fully focused on the feelings this man aroused in her. 

‘I wanted to be out there with you, I would have gladly been a fugitive with you if that what it took to keep you and Christine by my side. And yes, that’s what I want, if something like that happens again, we face it together, whether it’s running or fighting.’

‘Even if it means it will affect your FBI career and Parker?’

‘Bones, we will always find a way to keep in touch with Parker, I would never just abandon him, as for FBI…I love my job, but my family will always come first.’

‘I love you, Booth and I promise I will never run again.’


	2. Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set after 9x06 The Woman in White during the reception that we never got to see, which. I am still a bit bitter about :D

“When Hodgins and I were buried alive, we each wrote a message to someone we loved incase our bodies were ever found. Hodgins wrote to Angela and I wrote to you. Dear Agent Booth, you are a confusing man. You are irrational and impulsive, superstitious and exasperating. You believe in ghosts and maybe even Santa Claus and because of you I've started to see the universe differently. How is it possible that simply looking into your fine face gives me such joy? Why does it make me so happy that every time I try to sneak a peek at you, you're already looking at me. Like you it makes no sense, and like you, it feels right. If I ever get out of here, I will find a time and place to tell you that you make my life messy and confusing and unfocused and irrational and wonderful. This is that time, this is that place.”

The words of Bones’ wedding vows were burning in Booth’s mind. It was a sunset and they were dancing slowly to some cheesy music Angela picked up for the wedding, which wasn’t important, all those little details they were worried about turned out to be just a setting for the happiest days of his life, he wasn’t lying to Bones, he would have married her wearing a gorilla mask if that what she wanted. They were finally there, at the point in their lives which Booth foresaw that rainy night when she was drunk from tequila and he was drunk from her kiss. It took them nine years to get there, but it was worth every day, Brennan was now his wife and he was her husband and no amount of obstacles they faced, no pain they had to go through in order to grow for each other, nothing of this mattered today. She was breathtakingly beautiful, which was probably what every groom on the planet thinks that at their wedding day, but again, it didn’t matter.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her vows, it was her way of telling him that on some level she also knew from the start, just like he did, but her logical, empirical mind needed time to adjust to the idea. He thought about all the times they nearly missed each other, with other people, murders and wars, and felt a cold sweat on his spine, what if they failed to catch each other? No, that didn’t matter anymore, they were together forever, they had a wonderful daughter growing up and now the whole world knows that they belong together. 

‘What are you thinking about?’ he heard her sonorous voice breaking his trail of thoughts, Booth was holding her hand close to the chest. The lights outside the Jeffersonian were already lit up, there were other couples dancing next to them, the music changed to another romantic song Booth vaguely recognized. But all her could see Bones’ big blue eyes staring curiously at him. Despite being the most intelligent person he ever met, sometimes she was almost like a child that demanded an immediate and truthful answer, at first, a million years ago, it was something that was extremely annoying for him, but over the time it became one of the countless things he loved about his partner. 

‘About today, mostly, about your vows, once again you completely surprised me.’

‘Why?’

‘I didn’t expect it, I guess. I mean it’s been so long ago and you wrote that letter for me, I am just happy, happy that I wasn’t the only who felt this connection right from the start.’

‘But I told you that before,’ said Bones raising her perfectly shaped eyebrows. True, she did tell him that if it wasn’t for her blood-freezing fear, she would have said yes to him that night near the Hoover, as the unpleasant memory flashed Booth squeezed her hand a little tighter. 

‘Yeah, but as you say, Bones, this is a hard evidence,’ he teased her a little. ‘Why haven’t you told me sooner about the note? I am just curious.’

‘Why, is that important?’

‘I don’t know, it just feels like it.’

Brennan broke the eye contact and looked at Angela and Hodgins dancing nearby, Booth knew that this experience she and Hodgins shared was the most terrifying thing in her life, to the point that when they convicted Taffet, something broke and Bones had to run away, of course there were other reasons, but Taffet’s case was something that was the last strain for Bones. His own experience wasn’t as terrifying, after all he wasn’t confined in one tiny place without air, true, he had to fight his way out, but in a way it wasn’t that different from what he had been through during his military times. If he had to stay in that metal box, where the Gravedigger intended him to be, he would probably have gone mad before Brennan could rescue him, most likely she wouldn’t even make it in time. They talked about many cases, but whenever it was about Taffet, Bones just would change the subject, Angela told him once that even years later Hodgins still had nightmares about that day.

‘To be frank, at one point I completely forgot about this note, Booth,’ Bones said looking back at him. ‘When we got out and our lives moved on, I hid it, because as you said it is a hard evidence of something I wasn’t ready to face. When Hodgins offered to write a good-bye letter to somebody, I was considering Russ or Angela, but then…Then all I could think is what would you say if I didn’t say goodbye, so I wrote what I could comprehend about our partnership and questions that I have been asking myself, because it could have been my only chance.’

He was listening intently, trying not to miss a word, this was one of those rare moments where Brennan was completely open with him, even now years after, she could be lost sometimes in her own world and even though she allowed him more than anybody else in, it was still mesmerizing. 

‘I didn’t think about it for a long time, until I found this note in one of my books that I took with me to Maluku.’

Booth closed his eyes, that year was complicated and hard for both of them. They were on the different sides of the planet, he came back with somebody else trying to move on from something that was impossible to forget, it was the year when everything was just wrong and it will probably haunt him for the rest of his life.

‘I read it hundreds of times, even though I remembered every word. I didn’t understand that back then, but now I think it was the universe punishing me for making the wrong choice.’

‘Hey, don’t say that.’

‘It’s the truth, Booth, it was the same feeling I experienced during Lauren Eames case, the difference was I couldn’t do anything about it. I don’t have any proof, but that what it feels like.’

‘Things like that, they don’t need to proof, Bones.’

‘Yes, I know that now, but…In any case, all that is in the past. When I found this note, when I accepted the influence you had on me, despite my best efforts, I must say,’ Booth couldn’t help but smirk at this. ‘I promised myself that I will share it with you, but the circumstances changed and by the time you and I got together, we were so busy with everything that was happening, everything was so fast, Christine, us moving in together than Pelant…’

‘Please, let’s not talk about him on our wedding day, Bones,’ Booth winced. This was definitely something that could kill the mood. She smiled brightly at him.

‘I was merely trying to say that even though I wasn’t hiding from the truth anymore, I just waited for a moment that will emphasize the significance of this note and it feels like today was perfect for it. Am I wrong?’

‘No, Bones, you are one-hundred percent right,’ he kissed her gently. ‘I love you and today can’t get any more perfect.’

‘Really? What about the official consummation of our relationship?’

‘Official consummation? Wow, Bones, only you would call a wedding night, that.’

‘Well, we have been sleeping together for years now, Booth, this is just something that society expects from us. Did you know that in some cultures, even today, the newly married couple would need to consummate their marriage in front of the witnesses and the witnesses would encourage the newlyweds, especially the groom, until they achieve orgasm?’

‘No, I didn’t and I would have lived happily without this knowledge,’ winced Booth. ‘But I have to say, that I wouldn’t mind escape our guests and move ourselves to the hotel room. It is our wedding night, after all.’

‘But what about all our friends?’

‘I am sure they will understand, we are newlyweds, after all,’ he gave her most charming smile and pressed himself closer to her, they really needed to get out of here and he really needed to help her out of this dress, as gorgeous as it was. 

‘Your logic is acceptable,’ Bones took his hand and as they were now passing by the decorations and familiar faces, their intent was clear and nobody even tried to stop them, Aldo gave Booth an approving nod, Angela and Hodgins waved happily at them, Hank and Max just smirked a little and then resumed their conversation. They were almost at the gate when Booth heard Daisy yelling. 

‘Dr Brennan, Dr Brennan! You didn’t throw the bouquet! You can’t leave without doing that!’

Before Booth could groan and react, Brennan smiled at him quickly, swirled and threw the bouquet right in the middle of the crowd, without any warning or gathering. 

‘I just didn’t want to waste any more time,’ she said as a matter of fact and he was once amazed how lucky he was. They didn’t know who caught it and they didn’t care.


	3. Five Seconds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark AU of the Doctor in the Photo. No happy ending, major character death, addiction, self-harm.

If only he was five seconds earlier, he would have made it, he would have grabbed her out of the harm’s way like he did hundreds of times before, but he was five seconds late and he saw how the car hit his partner’s body. A flash of light, a horrible sound of the break and the unhuman scream he didn’t first realize was his. 

She survived, bloody and bruised, but she was still breathing, he brought her to the hospital, urgent surgery, doctors, her pale face, that all he remembered. He was sitting in the hallway, her blood on his hands, praying to God that she would make it, their friends came in running, Angela threw herself into his arms, weeping, others were shocked and pale, but silent, he called her father to tell the news, he was with Russ and his family and they promised to take the first plane and be there for her. His girlfriend was away, but it didn’t matter, in fact he didn’t feel like talking to her right now, all that mattered was that Bones survived because if not…No, he couldn’t go there, this wasn’t an option. They were waiting, waiting for the verdict. The doctor came out of the surgery, his face was tired and sad and Booth knew that this time miracle won’t happen. 

Braindead, was all he heard out of a long and squinty explanation of what happened. Best case scenario, she will spend the rest of her life hooked up to the machine, no chance of recovery. He was enraged, this man, he didn’t know Bones, she will fight, she will wake up, everything is going to be fine. Sweets and Angela were trying to keep him from hitting this doctor, because he couldn’t be more wrong. Bones will wake up. 

****************

Months have passed, but she wouldn’t wake up. Her family, Angela and Booth were with her almost every day. Max was the first one to suggest they let her go, he couldn’t keep watching his daughter like that. Unmoving, cold, not talking, not correcting everybody’s stupidity. What was that Goodman said once? Compared to her the whole world was a little stupid, then how can this world allow for someone like her to disappear? Rationally, Booth knew that she won’t wake up, that she, the one who was vibrant with energy and determination, passion and purpose, wouldn’t want to be like that. A little later Angela and Russ got on board with Max, now they were waiting for Booth. They didn’t push him, because they all knew the truth, her death would hit him the most as bizarre as it was. True, things were complicated, even more complicated than before, there were things unsaid and said, him trying to move on, to prove to the world and himself that he could love someone else. What an anecdote. He was clutching her cold hand and silent tears were running down his handsome face. He was now talking to her, saying things he wished he could say before, knowing that even though that she would dismiss him, she could hear him. He was mad at her too, if only she gave him a chance, just one chance, maybe things would have been different. Maybe, instead of her being here, they would finally find a way to each other. He looked at her and it was the same feeling he experienced the day he met her, he saw their life together that could have been, lazy mornings, endless debates, fights and making love, their home and children that should have been born. If only she gave him a chance. 

*************************

The funeral was over, it was big, Temperance Brennan was a respected and accomplished scientist, a famous author, a lot of people wanted to say good-bye. But there were just a few who would truly mourn her, who knew what a generous heart she really had. Her family, friends and co-workers, her partner, who went through so much with her, whose life she saved on more than once and who failed to save hers. Max blamed him, he accused him of trading his daughter for someone else, accused him of abandoning her, being an unworthy partner. The truth was Max didn’t have to throw it to his face, Booth was already there. Days and nights the guilt was eating him up, his girlfriend was trying to help him, but he shut her down and she left, he barely acknowledged that, because nothing could compare to the loss he felt. Sweets was trying to help, Angela and Cam were trying to talk to him, but it wasn’t working. He gambled and drank and that what numbed him, at least for the night, until the morning would come and he would start over again. Guilt, unrequited love, loss and death, that’s was his life now. 

**********************  
Angela called him, asking him to come to Brennan’s place. She and Hodgins volunteered to clean it up and invited him too. He didn’t want to come, that place was her all over and it was just too much. But he owed her, this was the least he could do. Angela was now visibly showing, he knew that she would be fine eventually, no matter how much she loved Brennan, she had a loving husband and a growing child that needed her. All people he knew would, no matter how much they cared about Bones, would move on some day. Russ had his own family to take care of, Max would cling to him and they will find a way to accept their loss, just like they did with Christine Brennan. Sweets, Hodgins, Cam and other squints would honor her with their work, things she taught them and helped them with. The only person who is damaged beyond repair, irreversibly broken was Booth. 

They cleaned up her countless books, artifacts and papers. Her clothes still smelled of her fruity perfume, Booth found the Smurf he gave her years ago and his heart broke once again, the flashes of them skating, laughing, joking, running, her being adorably confused about something so simple, him being completely lost at her explanations of yet another fact, all that hit him. He bit his lip in order not to scream. He heard Angela calling him, she and Hodgins were staring at him now. Angela was clearly crying just now, she gave him a folded old piece of paper and he couldn’t understand why this particular thing held any significance. 

‘What is it?’ he asked.  
‘Something you should read, Booth. On your own,’ said Hodgins, his eyes were wet too. 

‘What is it?’ he repeated his question.

‘A note. To you,’ said Angela wiping her tears.

‘Have you read it?’ asked Booth angrily. He knew it wasn’t fair, but if this note was for him, they had no right. This was his. 

‘No,’ Hodgins reassured him. ‘But I think I know what it is, I recognize it…from when the Gravedigger took us.’

‘What? How?’ Booth’s heart crushed again.

‘When me and Brennan were in that car, before we decided to blast our way through, we each…We wrote a good-bye note to someone. Just in case. I wrote to Angie and Dr B wrote to you, I guess.’ 

**************************

He was on his third glass of scotch. He couldn’t bring himself to open that note. It was four years since the Gravedigger buried Hodgins and Bones, four years since their team managed to find them. So much happened since then, good and bad and now the worst was happening and Booth knew that was the last thing Bones would ever tell him. Her last words to him, outdated, but fitting given the circumstances. He gulped in another glass and slowly opened the old piece of paper. He recognized her hand immediately, even in the face of death her handwriting was perfect and clean.

“Dear Agent Booth, you are a confusing man. You are irrational and impulsive, superstitious and exasperating. You believe in ghosts and maybe even Santa Claus and because of you I've started to see the universe differently. How is it possible that simply looking into your fine face gives me such joy? Why does it make me so happy that every time I try to sneak a peek at you, you're already looking at me? Like you it makes no sense, and like you, it feels right. If I ever get out of here, I will find a time and place to tell you that you make my life messy and confusing and unfocused and irrational and wonderful.”

The rain was just as bad as the night Booth lost what mattered most to him. And now he was yelling at the gravestone, he could barely stand from consumed alcohol, he barely remembered getting there and now he was yelling at his partner’s grave. He accused her of dismissing something wonderful that could have been between them, for getting herself killed. The words from her letter burned in his feverish mind. He hated her for dying and leaving him behind and never letting him know her last secret, he hated that this love he felt for her was now destroying his life. He begged her to come back to him, but there was no answer. 

***************************

A universe away, Seeley Booth woke up from a terrible nightmare. It was an old one, the one he had years ago, after Bones almost got into a car accident, they night she told him how she felt and that she made a mistake letting him go. Things happened after that and even though it was not always easy, they were there now, together, in their home. His beautiful wife, his head-strong Bones was sleeping peacefully. Parker was visiting and all their children were safe in their beds and the world seemed better than ever. Booth hugged her gently and as always, even in her sleep, Bones felt her husband’s arms around her and leaned in slightly. The nightmare felt so real, that Booth could feel his heart in his throat. He held his wife even tighter, feeling her warm body soothing him back to sleep. If only he was five seconds later.


End file.
